More Thoughts on Teacher Polls, Tenure, and School Funding - Dana Goldstein

More Thoughts on Teacher Polls, Tenure, and School Funding - Dana Goldstein:

More Thoughts on Teacher Polls, Tenure, and School Funding

by Dana Goldstein

Over at The Nation I have a new piece looking at surveys of public school teachers, one of which found job satisfaction at its lowest point since 1989. The most important thing to note is that polling shows teachers arenot unhappy because they resent new accountability policies like the more stringent teacher evaluations instituted in response to President Obama's Race to the Top program. In fact, most teachers support using multiple measures of student learning to assess educators, and most believe it should take longer to earn tenure (an average of 5.4 years according to the Gates/Scholastic poll) than it currently does (an average of 3.1 years across all states).
Critics of tenure will say the system shouldn't exist at all. But it takes a long time to shift opinion within a profession, and the polls show teachers have already evolved significantly. What's more, huge policy changes on tenure are already underway. Since 2009, the majority of states passed legislation significantly weakening tenure protections. In Colorado, for example, teachers will lose their seniority protections if they receive a bad performance evaluation two years in a row.
The big remaining question is how these new evaluations will work, and teachers are worried student 

Weekly Update: First for some fun, and then more fun | Seattle Education

Weekly Update: First for some fun, and then more fun | Seattle Education:

Weekly Update: First for some fun, and then more fun

by seattleducation2011

First, for some fun check out:
The three-day World Rhythm Festival in Seattle, a weekend of immersion in world music, drum and dance. 3 days packed with an amazing range of world music traditions, including African, Middle-Eastern, Latin, Indian, Brazilian, North American, and more.
The World Rhythm Festival, which starts today, is at Seattle Center and the corresponding International Marketplace will be in the Fisher Pavilion.
There will be dance and drumming workshops and special concerts and events for three days and the best part is that all the events are free.

Shanker Blog » The Test-Based Evidence On New Orleans Charter Schools

Shanker Blog » The Test-Based Evidence On New Orleans Charter Schools:

The Test-Based Evidence On New Orleans Charter Schools

by Matthew Di Carlo

Charter schools in New Orleans (NOLA) now serve over four out of five students in the city – the largest market share of any big city in the nation. As of the 2011-12 school year, most of the city’s schools (around 80 percent), charter and regular public, are overseen by the Recovery School District (RSD), a statewide agency created in 2003 to take over low-performing schools, which assumed control of most NOLA schools in Katrina’s aftermath.
Around three-quarters of these RSD schools (50 out of 66) are charters. The remainder of NOLA’s schools are overseen either by the Orleans Parish School Board (which is responsible for 11 charters and six regular public schools, and taxing authority for all parish schools) or by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (which is directly responsible for three charters, and also supervises the RSD).
New Orleans is often held up as a model for the rapid expansion of charter schools in other urban districts, based on the argument that charter proliferation since 2005-06 has generated rapid improvements in student outcomes. There are two separate claims potentially embedded in this argument. The first is that the city’s 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Education Headlines

Friday, April 27, 2012

Upland Unified issues layoff notices to some bus drivers, custodians

The Upland Unified School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday agreed to send layoff notices to three custodians and seven bus drivers and reduced the hours for an additional eight bus drivers.

ACEL keeps charter when FUSD board deadlocks

The Fresno Academy for Civic and Entrepreneurial Leadership will keep its charter under the Fresno Unified School District for another five years. The good news for ACEL was a twist in Wednesday night's events, which seemed to indicate that Fresno Unified's Board of Trustees would deny the charter for the downtown school.

Galt school board holds off on vote to halt busing

Families in Galt will have to wait a little longer to find out if their children will have a ride to their elementary or middle school come August. Board members for the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District decided Wednesday night to postpone a vote that would have ended busing for all but its special education students next school year.

West Contra Costa school district rescinds decision to close continuation school

West Contra Costa schools Superintendent Bruce Harter withdrew a decision to close Vista Continuation High School in Richmond on Thursday morning after listening to a group of angry speakers and their supporters at the district's board meeting Wednesday night.

Parents who sued school over son's punishment for cheating receive hate messages

Jack Berghouse doesn't dispute that his son, a sophomore at Sequoia High School, copied someone else's homework. But the Redwood City father believes the school district was wrong to kick his teenager out of an English honors class for the offense, and his decision to sue has embroiled the family in a public, opinionated debate.

Divided Fremont school board approves dogs to sniff out drugs on campus

Police dogs soon will be sniffing lockers and cars for drugs on high school campuses, though trustees are divided on the new policy. The Fremont school board voted 3-2 Wednesday night to approve the measure, joining several other districts around the area in ramping up efforts to curtail drug use.

CA home to nation’s most run-down public schools serving military families

Seven of the nation’s 24 most dilapidated public schools serving military families are located in California, according to disclosures made this week by state officials.

Baron: It’s a bill’s life

California school buses won’t be wearing anything but yellow for the foreseeable future. This week, the state Senate Education Committee killed SB 1295. Introduced by Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, it would have permitted school districts to selling advertising space on the outside of buses to raise revenue.

Fensterwald: No more dodging Algebra dilemma

For nearly two years, California’s unwieldy eighth grade math standards have lain untouched like an unexploded IED, a roadside bomb of the math wars. But with middle and high school math teachers clamoring for guidance and new assessments two-plus years away, the Legislature and State Board must soon answer the question, What about Algebra I in eighth grade?

Thursday, April 26, 2012

BCSD moves forward with transitional kindergarten, talks suspensions

The district is moving forward with transitional kindergarten because it will be able to get state funding. There will be one T-K classroom at 30 of BCSD's elementary school sites, officials said.

Superintendent defends McLane High leadership

The leadership of McLane High School came under fire at Wednesday's Fresno Unified school board meeting when teachers and students faulted the school's administration for dismantling programs, cutting teachers and bullying students.

Police probe Twin Rivers superintendent's computer

Sacramento Police Department officials copied files and information from the district-issued computer of Twin Rivers Unified Superintendent Frank Porter as part of an independent investigation into alleged misconduct by the district's Police Department.

Barnidge: Why all the rush to extend superintendent's contract?

Deep in the Mt. Diablo school board's lengthy agenda Monday night, buried beneath student expulsions, contract approvals and budget transfers, was a topic that was arguably the most important of all.

After seeing the fiscal impact, Oakland school board rejects charter conversion

The Oakland school board voted Wednesday night to block the Fruitvale-area Lazear Elementary from becoming a charter school. Lazear is one of five elementary schools slated to close in June as part of a school district downsizing plan. To keep it open, parents submitted an application to become an independently run charter school at the same location.

Senate panel rejects bill on school-bus advertising

The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have opened the door to advertising on the sides of school buses, prompting outrage from the legislation's author: GOP leader Bob Huff.

Baron: Heavy editing on textbook publishers

It’s a sure sign that an issue has hit crisis mode when Republican and Democratic legislators are on the same page about what needs to happen. In this case, it’s a fraying page from a textbook industry that needs some help embracing change.

Vargo: Designing evaluations of teachers starts with trust

If we began the redesign of teacher evaluation with the goal of creating a shared vision of what excellent teaching looks like and how teachers will be supported to achieve it, we can take a step toward re-inspiring teachers.

Fensterwald: ICLow marks for Brown not his ideas

California voters give Gov. Jerry Brown low marks overall for the way he has handled K-12 education. But, at the same time, they support some school reforms that he’s championing, including directing much of new revenue to poor students, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll.

LAUSD slashes summer school, smallest offerings ever

Facing unrelenting budget pressure, Los Angeles Unified has pared its summer school program - again - to its smallest size ever, with only a limited number of courses available to failing high school students who need to make up classes to graduate.

Poll: More back Brown’s tax plan than Munger’s

Almost two-thirds of California’s likely voters favor raising income taxes for the state’s wealthiest residents to pay for public schools, but most oppose increasing the state sales tax for the same purpose, according to a new Public Policy Institute of California poll.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Bakersfield City SD settles with embattled director

The Bakersfield City School District reached a settlement Tuesday night with an employee singled out in a state report that said he failed to properly address widespread misuse of public funds and district equipment.

Lowder gets Stockton USD post in slim vote

Steve Lowder's third pursuit of Stockton Unified's superintendent position proved successful Tuesday night as the district's sharply divided school board ratified his contract by a 4-3 vote.

Move to cut sign language classes at Paso Robles High puts teens in a bind

Having studied sign language since fifth grade, Marina Perry planned to one day become an interpreter for the deaf. But then she learned that Paso Robles High School planned to eliminate its American Sign Language program.

Monrovia Unified's concerns about Internet service provider prompt review

Worried that federal funds may be in jeopardy, school district officials are reviewing their relationship with an internet service provider, according to documents obtained by this newspaper.

Menifee schools slash busing, raise fees

Fewer students will be able to ride the bus to Menifee schools next year and those who do will pay more for the service.

News Archives

URGENT: Call the House NOW and say "Vote NO" on the Sham Student Loan Bill | OurFuture.org

URGENT: Call the House NOW and say "Vote NO" on the Sham Student Loan Bill | OurFuture.org:

URGENT: Call the House NOW and say "Vote NO" on the Sham Student Loan Bill

by Roger Hickey

House Republicans are trying to snooker the public with a vote today, around 12 PM ET, on a sham student loan bill. We need you to call House switchboard at 202-225-3121 NOW, ask for your representative and say "Vote No."
The Republican bill is only designed to give them political cover while creating gridlock by raiding funds for preventative health care, something Democrats won't and shouldn't accept.
Republicans want students to be political pawns. Call the House and say "Vote No."
Then if you haven't already, send an email to Congress using our action page.

HechingerEd Blog | U.S. to fall short of 2025 college grads goal—by 24 million degrees

HechingerEd Blog | U.S. to fall short of 2025 college grads goal—by 24 million degrees:

U.S. to fall short of 2025 college grads goal—by 24 million degrees

by Jon Marcus

Despite persistent appeals from policymakers and politicians to increase the number of college graduates in the United States, a new report projects a shortfall of nearly 24 million degree-holders by 2025.
The cost to the U.S. economy in lost wages and income taxes? About $600 billion a year.
They’re the most dramatic figures yet in the ongoing debate about the need to improve the rates at which Americans successfully complete a higher education.
In order to reach the goal of having 60 percent of adults with college degrees by the year 2025, the United States would have to confer an additional 24 million degrees beyond what it is already producing—but it is projected to 

Cybercharters Grow, Despite Evidence « Diane Ravitch's blog

Cybercharters Grow, Despite Evidence « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Cybercharters Grow, Despite Evidence

by dianerav

When I spoke at NCTM, I talked about the common thread that unites mathematicians and historians: We believe that evidence matters. No matter how much we speculate, or theorize, or predict, what matters most is: Show me your work, where is the evidence.
There is no “reform” these days that has less evidence to support it than the expansion of cyber-charters. This is the (usually for-profit) business that enrolls students, provides them a computer and textbooks, then teaches them online while they sit at home in front of a computer. Both the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?pagewanted=all) and the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virtual-schools-are-multiplying-but-some-question-their-educational-value/2011/11/22/gIQANUzkzN_story.html) have published exposes of the for-profit cyber-charter corporations.
I don’t doubt that there are some students who benefit by being able to take their courses at home. Some special-education students, some incarcerated youth, some others. But as a replacement for regular schools,

Con Academy 

Browse Con Academy  library of over 3,100 educational videos...

Education and the income gap: Darling-Hammond - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Education and the income gap: Darling-Hammond - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Education and the income gap: Darling-Hammond

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by Stanford University Education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who directs the Stanford University Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and was founding director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. A former president of the American Educational Research Association, Darling-Hammond focuses her research, teaching, and policy work on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity.

By Linda Darling-Hammond

There is much handwringing about low educational attainment in the United States these days. We hear constantly about U.S. rankings on assessments like the international PISA tests: The United States was 14th in reading, 21st in science, 25th in math in 2009, for example. We hear about how young children in high-poverty areas are entering kindergarten unprepared and far behind many of their classmates. 

Education Research Report: How California evaluates teachers and principals

Education Research Report: How California evaluates teachers and principals:

How California evaluates teachers and principals

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

How California's local education agencies evaluate teachers and principals, summarizes the results of a statewide survey of teacher and principal evaluation practices across school districts and direct-funded charter schools in California. Key findings include:

* Sixty-one percent of responding local education agencies indicated that their teacher evaluation systems are based on the California Standards for the Teaching Profession. * For teacher evaluation, 57 percent of respondents reported using student achievement outcomes or growth data as partial or primary evidence. For principal evaluation, 79 percent reported using these data.

* Eighty-two percent of responding direct-funded charter schools reported using student achievement or growt

We Can’t Wait: President Obama Takes Action to Stop Deceptive and Misleading Practices by Educational | The White House

We Can’t Wait: President Obama Takes Action to Stop Deceptive and Misleading Practices by Educational | The White House:

We Can’t Wait: President Obama Takes Action to Stop Deceptive and Misleading Practices by Educational

On Friday, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will visit Fort Stewart in Georgia where the President will sign an Executive Order to help ensure all of America’s service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members have the information they need to make informed educational decisions and are protected from aggressive and deceptive targeting by educational institutions. We have a sacred trust with those who serve and protect our nation. It’s a commitment that begins at enlistment, and it must never end.  That’s why President Obama is committed to ensuring veterans and service members have the chance to get a college education and can find work when they return from service.

Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill became law, there have been reports of aggressive and deceptive targeting of service members, veterans, and their families by educational institutions, particularly for-profit career colleges. For example, some institutions have recruited veterans with serious brain injuries and emotional vulnerabilities without providing academic support and counseling; encouraged service members, veterans, and their families to take out costly institutional loans rather than encouraging them to apply for Federal student aid first; engaged in misleading recruiting practices on military installations; and have not disclosed meaningful information that allows potential students to determine whether the institution has a good record of graduating service members, veterans, and their families and positioning them for success in the workforce. 

Members of Congress have introduced legislation to address these issues, but the Administration believes we must do all we can administratively to protect veterans from these deceptive practices by improving the quality of information and services that these schools must provide.  These steps will help ensure that Federal military and veteran education dollars are well spent. Today’s Executive Order will apply to a variety of military and veteran education benefits, including the GI Bill, Tuition Assistance Program, and Military Spouse Career Advancement Account Program (MyCAA).

Today’s Executive Order will:

• Help Ensure Military and Veteran Students Have the Information They Need: The Executive Order will require that colleges provide more transparent information about their outcomes and financial aid options for students, which will help ensure that students are aware of the true cost and likelihood of completion prior to enrolling. According to the Senate HELP Committee, of the ten educational institutions collecting the most Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits between 2009 and 2011, eight were for-profit schools. Six of these schools had bachelor student withdrawal rates above 50 percent.  The Executive Order will require that the Know Before You Owe financial aid form, developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Education (ED), is made available to every college student that participates in the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Tuition Assistance program (nearly 2,000 schools). The Executive Order will also direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to encourage all schools—roughly 6,000 in total—participating in the GI Bill program to provide theKnow Before You Owe form.  This form provides students with critical information on tuition and fees, the availability of federal financial aid, estimated student loan debt upon graduation, and information about student outcomes like graduation rates. Further, the Executive Order will require that students are provided additional critical information, including school performance information over time, consumer protection information, and key financial aid documents, prior to the use of their benefits through the eBenefits portal.  The VA will publically post on their website if schools who receive GI Bill benefits agree to adhere to the Executive Order. 

• Keep Bad Actors Off of Military Installations:  There have been numerous reports of some institutions of higher education aggressively and inappropriately targeting military students.  The Executive Order will require the Department of Defense to set forth rules for how educational institutions gain access to military installations in the first place, so that service members are not targeted by institutions known for a history of poor behavior in recruiting and marketing practices.

• Crack Down on Improper Online Recruiting Practices: The Executive Order will direct the VA to initiate a process to register the term “GI Bill,” so that external websites and programs are not deceptively and fraudulently marketing educational services and benefits to program beneficiaries. For instance, some companies have set up websites that suggest that veterans’ benefits are only available at a subset of schools.  The websites are also set up to resemble official government sites, and are marketed heavily at military installations and at separating service members.

• Provide Veterans with a Complaint System: The Executive Order will require VA, DoD, and ED, in consultation with the CFPB and Department of Justice, to create a centralized complaint system for students receiving military and veterans’ educational benefits. Currently, when military and veteran students feel that their school has acted fraudulently, they have no centralized system to file complaints, and federal agencies often lack access to information that will allow for follow-up enforcement or regulatory actions.

• Improve Support Services for Service Members and Veterans: The Executive Order will require that colleges participating in the military and veterans education benefit programs do more to meet the needs of military and veteran students by providing clear educational plans for students, academic and financial aid counseling services with staff that are familiar with the VA and DoD programs, and the ability of service members to more easily re-enroll and/or receive a refund if they must leave school for service-related reasons.

• Provide Students with Better Data on Educational Institutions: The Executive Order will require DoD, VA, and Ed to develop improved student outcome measures, such as completion rates for veterans, and a plan for collecting this data, which will be made available on Ed’s College Navigator website. Currently, retention and completion rates cannot be broken down by veteran or service member status.  Given the unique educational needs of veterans, active-duty service members, and their family members, it is important to provide them with a more accurate picture of what success looks like for students like them. The Executive Order will also require better reporting on the extent to which colleges rely on various types of federal benefits for operational support.

• Strengthen Enforcement of Student Protections: The Executive Order will require that VA and DoD strengthen the enforcement and compliance functions of the VA and DoD, so that, working in conjunction with the Department of Education, DOJ, and the CFPB, agencies (including law enforcement agencies with responsibility over fraud investigations) can effectively act on complaints of improper activity.

Democurmudgeon: Schools Districts may have the power to lower teacher wages 30%, beyond limiting raises.

Democurmudgeon: Schools Districts may have the power to lower teacher wages 30%, beyond limiting raises.:

Schools Districts may have the power to lower teacher wages 30%, beyond limiting raises.

by Democurmudgeon

As the story originally appeared in the Journal Sentinel, it looked like Scott Walker was attempting to change the base salary teacher raises could be calculated from.

jsonline: The rule change would not use an individual's actual salary as a "base salary" to calculate raises and would exclude factors such as a teacher's higher degree … lower inflation-based raises that public unions can negotiate by 30% or more for teachers in public schools and technical colleges. Walker ordered changes to the rules that would limit base wages to exclude pay given to workers such as teachers to reflect factors such as having a graduate degree.

But now the story has taken an even uglier turn; districts may be able to lower actual wages to the lower pre-education wages, separate from the issue of raises. If districts wanted too, they could lower a teacher’s wages 

Missouri Education Watchdog: The Love of Learning Doesn't Require Computer Adapted Assessments

Missouri Education Watchdog: The Love of Learning Doesn't Require Computer Adapted Assessments:

The Love of Learning Doesn't Require Computer Adapted Assessments

by stlgretchen

I received this youtube video and comment from a friend who has been a math teacher.  A tutor is teaching a young student her "7" multiplication facts.  The best part of the video is at the very end.  The child's last statement captures what happened in this math tutoring session and reveals what true education is all about: a creative teacher, the love of learning and pride of mastery.  Out of the mouths of children....
 

**************************************************************************

I remember hearing my elementary principal in the early 80s (and others since then) say it wasn't 

Fail - Test scores are mixed, costs are high and teachers are pissed - Sacramento News & Review

Fail - Feature Story - Local Stories - November 17, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review:

Fail

Test scores are mixed, costs are high and teachers are pissed. Why critics say Sacramento city school reform could …

By Cosmo Garvin 
cosmog@newsreview.com

Read 8 reader submitted comments

This article was published on 11.17.11.

Full disclosure: Reporter Cosmo Garvin’s wife is a teacher in the Sacramento City Unified School District.

School districts all over the country are struggling to turn around “failing schools.” It’s a harsh label, but the pressure to raise student test scores and graduation rates is enormous. The system created by No Child Left Behind and its offspring, Race to the Top, can impose tough penalties for schools and school districts that don’t make steady gains.
In Sacramento City Unified School District, the same schools often lag behind on the alphabet soup of standards that schools are measured by these days: the Academic Performance Index, the California Standards Tests, the Early Assessment Program, the list goes on. And these struggling schools tend to cluster in low-income neighborhoods.
But last year, SCUSD’s Superintendent Jonathan Raymond launched a plan to turn around the failing schools.